My mac is here. Won't recognize my usb hardrive
- Thread starter AdamBigge
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2006
- Messages
- 8,704
- Reaction score
- 447
- Points
- 83
- Location
- twin cities, mn, usa
from what i understand, this could be a power issue too.
do you have the double ended cable or just a single?
(single appears normal - standard usb plug on one end, some standard or proprietary end that goes into your device. the double will have an additional standard usb plug probably attached to the first by a short cable).
the double allows for more juice to power the external harddrive.
one came with my 2.5" enclosure. i've got an 80G drive in that one from an HP17" laptop that melted on me (i think it's a 5400). i've never had to use both connections. not sure if it would be faster with both. but i've had no issues either way.
i've also got a 3.5 inch enclosure with a 120G drive in it. however this puppy has it's own power supply.
do you have the double ended cable or just a single?
(single appears normal - standard usb plug on one end, some standard or proprietary end that goes into your device. the double will have an additional standard usb plug probably attached to the first by a short cable).
the double allows for more juice to power the external harddrive.
one came with my 2.5" enclosure. i've got an 80G drive in that one from an HP17" laptop that melted on me (i think it's a 5400). i've never had to use both connections. not sure if it would be faster with both. but i've had no issues either way.
i've also got a 3.5 inch enclosure with a 120G drive in it. however this puppy has it's own power supply.
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2006
- Messages
- 8,704
- Reaction score
- 447
- Points
- 83
- Location
- twin cities, mn, usa
oh, and about the filesystem.
the 80G drive had ntfs when i pulled it from the other laptop. when attached to the macbook it could see/read all the files, but i could not delete or modify any of them. i had to move all the data i wanted to keep off that drive, and then reformat using a windows file system that the mac could have full access to (probably fat32, can't remember) and that i could access from my work laptop which is a wintel machine.
the 80G drive had ntfs when i pulled it from the other laptop. when attached to the macbook it could see/read all the files, but i could not delete or modify any of them. i had to move all the data i wanted to keep off that drive, and then reformat using a windows file system that the mac could have full access to (probably fat32, can't remember) and that i could access from my work laptop which is a wintel machine.
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2006
- Messages
- 390
- Reaction score
- 10
- Points
- 18
until I reformatted my usb 120g harddrive to FAT32, the mac would not see it either (it was originally formated NTFS for XP). With FAT32 both the mac and XP (running under Boot Camp) have no trouble with the drive.
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2005
- Messages
- 1,551
- Reaction score
- 102
- Points
- 63
- Location
- Chicago
- Your Mac's Specs
- MacBook Pro M1 • iPhone 14 Pro • iPad Pro • iMac Retina 27"
I would put money down that this is a power issue. You may need some sort of power source in order for it to work on the Mac.
Yogi's suggestion is valid in this vein-- make sure you have it plugged directly into the USB port on the computer, not through a hub or any kind of extension.
Does it light up (if there are any lights on it) or does it just sit there? Can you tell us the make/model of the USB/IDE adapter?
Yogi's suggestion is valid in this vein-- make sure you have it plugged directly into the USB port on the computer, not through a hub or any kind of extension.
Does it light up (if there are any lights on it) or does it just sit there? Can you tell us the make/model of the USB/IDE adapter?
Shop Amazon
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.